Thursday, September 20, 2012

I know I've been posting a lot of healthier recipes lately. It's important to eat healthy...most of the time. It's also important to remember your Southern roots and make some damn comfort food every once in a while! After all...

I had recently made avocado BLTs for dinner one night (it's pretty healthy when you use that awesome nitrate-free reduced-fat bacon from TJ's...that stuff is only 1 WeightWatchers PointsPlus per serving!) and the two of us had enough will power to leave some leftover bacon. I wrapped up the remaining strips and kept them in the front of the fridge, knowing that I'd probably need to cook them in the next day or two. Fortunately, we had a neighborhood potluck cookout thing and I needed to bring a side dish. I contemplated what I could make with my remaining bacon (which was about six or seven strips) that would be somewhat healthy. When I decided on roasted brussel sprouts, my husband quickly turned me down. "No one is going to eat that!" he exclaimed. I sighed, because I knew he was right.

Once I had prioritized flavor over health-appeal, I decided to go all out. I turned to one of my absolute favorite side dishes:

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lay bacon on the foil, then place in oven. Close the door and turn the temperature to 400˚. Bake for 17-20 minutes (it'll probably finish preheating at some point during that time). Remove cookie sheet from oven. Using tongs, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Once cool, slide the bacon up into small pieces. By the way, this is my absolute favorite way to cook bacon!

Carefully grab both sides of the aluminum foil and fold longways, slightly. Pour bacon grease (again, carefully!) into a small, heat-resistant cup or bowl. Set aside for later. Return aluminum foil to cookie sheet - some grease will remain on foil.

Bring oven temperature up to 450˚.

In a food processer, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Quickly cut frozen stick of butter into eight or so pieces. Add to food processer and pulse until meal is finely ground.

Pour flour and butter mixture into a large bowl. Add bacon, cheese, chives, and buttermilk. Gently hand-stir until completely moistened.

Sprinkle a little flour on your countertop and add some to your hands. Roll out the biscuit dough until it's about 1-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter (or the rim of a jar or glass) on all the dough. Reform remaining dough, and repeat until you've used it all.

Place biscuits on greasy cookie sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the biscuits with reserved bacon fat. Mmmmm....

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack until completely cooled.